South Korea’s Rice Consumption Drops to Record Low

https://www.chosun.com/english/market-money-en/2026/01/22/4IWVINP63FCYXMYNBUDBCIIXNE/

Posted by Saltedline

9 Comments

  1. Bright-Sea6392 on

    I actually noticed when I visited last year that people weren’t ordering second servings of rice, which I always do/did growing up, esp w bbq or stews. I would get 2-3 servings, but no one around me was asking for more rice 😭 I thought Koreans were THE rice people? All the Koreans I grew up around always ordered second or third servings of rice. But I looked it up and apparently a lot of Koreans are becoming more weight/health conscious so eat less nowadays?

  2. justforthelulzz on

    I wonder if this has anything to do with the huge influx of fast food coming in. Five guys has massively expanded, burger shops are on nearly every corner and now Chipotle is eyeing up a store in The Hyundai in Yeouido.

    I just visited Uzbekistan and the same thing is happening there. The kids are preferring pizzas and burgers over traditional Uzbek food.

  3. Responsible-Plan7800 on

    Because of a lot of food that they consume. Instead of rice lot of koreans rather choose delivered food like noodles, maratang topokkiand mostly chicken and pizza
    Then lot of them rather buy ready to eat rice.

  4. jhakaas_wala_pondy on

    The smile on restaurant ajumma’s face when I ask for extra rice is priceless..

    With dwaeji gukbap and any -jjigae, always 2 cups of rice minimum…. and with Miyeok-guk its 3